Wheelchair Basketball

On Friday 15th May the Wheelchair Roadshow was booked in to give a presentation to our Yr 10 cohort to inform them about the difficulties and chances people with certain disabilities face. Ricky, himself a sufferer of spina bifida, brought 12 wheelchairs for the students to try out a game of popular wheelchair basketball which they tremendously enjoyed!
He also spoke about his own struggles with the disability and the challenges he faces every day. As an elite athlete (he represented Australia in wheelchair tennis and rugby and soon in basketball) he also highlighted dangers in traffic situations often involving young and unexperienced drivers.

It was a very informative meeting for the students who are currently involved in modifying or designing games themselves for people with disabilities and conditions in their Year 10 PDHPE class in Term 2. The fun they had was obvious to see when the wheelchairs raced around the court after having been briefed by Ricky about basic rules of wheelchair basketball.
In concluding Ricky asked what the best thing was for them. After different answers Ricky said: “All true, but you forgot that the best thing really is that you can actually get up out of the wheelchair and now walk again.” A powerful message that really touched our students.

If you would like to learn more about wheelchair basketball go to wsnsw.org.au